The Scottish Executive issued the Good Practice Guidance to service providers on the basis that they were expected to implement the recommendations from within current resources.At national level the health budget will rise from £5.9 billion this year to £6.9 billion in 2003-04, representing around one third of the total Scottish Executive budget. It is important that local NHS boards and trusts are able to take decisions about the allocation of the resources at local level to meet local needs and priorities. The wide-ranging review of audiology services, commissioned by the Executive, will monitor the extent of the implementation of the guidance and will provide robust evidence and recommendations on how NHSScotland should address shortfalls identified. The review will report in the autumn.

To help inform local and national decisions on staff numbers for audiology services, the Executive has initiated a wide-ranging review of audiology services, which is due to report in full in autumn 2002. The review group is expected to provide an initial profile on staffing and skill-mix by the end of March 2002.

Scottish ministers do not have the power to place convicted sex offenders outwith Scotland whilst they are serving their sentence. Local authorities have the power to place outwith Scotland, young people who have sexually offended or are displaying sexually aggressive behaviour, if that is necessary. Information on how many young people this has involved, is not held centrally.

The latest available information from ISD Scotland, indicates that there were three consultant vacancies and no staff grade vacancies in the specialty of cardiothoracic surgery, at 30 September 2000.The number of higher specialist training posts available in Scotland is regularly adjusted to meet the projected number of new consultants needed to meet known and anticipated turnover and local service developments. In March 2001 the specialist registrar establishment for cardiothoracic surgery was increased from 10 to 13.

All primary care nurses are involved in the management and prevention of coronary heart disease.Work relating to coronary heart disease mainly falls within the remit of practice nurses (chronic disease management), health visitors (primary and secondary prevention) and district nurses (acute management and supportive care). There are approximately 1,048 practice nurses, 1,464 health visitors and 1,340 district nurses.Decisions regarding staffing levels for primary care nurses and the need for any specialist posts in the field of coronary heart disease, are the responsibility of NHS boards. Figures on the numbers of specialist posts are not held centrally.

The information requested is not held centrally.

During 2002-03, the Health Education Board for Scotland's (HEBS') approach to coronary heart disease (CHD) prevention will continue to be through programmes focussing on behavioural aspects such as stopping smoking and promoting physical activity and healthy eating. One of the main strands of this activity will be a continuation of the award-winning "Big 3" (CHD, cancer and stroke) advertising campaign, encouraging adults to think about making small changes in their lifestyle, which are easy to achieve, easy to maintain and can have such a beneficial impact on their health. HEBS will continue to track and monitor these adverts and develop programmes as appropriate, using both qualitative and quantitative research. NHS boards are key partners for all HEBS work.During the course of the next financial year, HEBS estimate that expenditure on CHD/cancer and stroke will be in excess of £1.5 million. The Public Health Institute for Scotland's remit does not extend to the design and delivery of health promotion campaigns. It will, however, be creating a Scotland-wide learning network on heart health during 2002.

New nurse/midwife consultant posts were introduced in Scotland in spring 2000 and 13 were recommended for establishment. None of these posts were for nurse consultants specialising in coronary heart disease.Following the nurse recruitment and retention convention in November 2001, a commitment was made to create a further 18 nurse/midwife consultant posts in Scotland and guidance has been sent out to the service encouraging their introduction.

SIGN Guideline 40, on Lipids and the Primary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease, indicates that for primary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD), statins are the drugs of first choice for lowering the level of fat circulating in the blood. The guideline is very clear, however, that lifestyle measures, in particular stopping smoking, eating better and exercising more, remain the first priority in the primary prevention of CHD. In relation to secondary prevention following a coronary event, a local protocol for the prescription of statins is one of the essential criteria in the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's standards for secondary prevention, following an acute myocardial infarction. The board's standards are mandatory across NHSScotland.

All primary care nurses receive education in relation to health promotion principles, nutrition and primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, as part of their post-registration specialist practice qualification. In addition, there are a wide variety of short courses and modules, specifically aimed at primary care nurses around the country.Both the Specialist Practice Programmes and short courses, are funded by each trust's own post registration budget, according to local priority and need.